This invention pertains to electrical connectors for electrically connecting a conductive wire to an electrical apparatus or source of electrical potential. More specifically, the invention relates to a connector on which there can be mounted terminals for connection to the respective conductors of a wire with the wire retained in the connector to prevent mechanical stress due to relative movement between the connector and wire on the connections between the conductors and terminals.
It is known in the art to provide mechanical stress relief between a wire and a connector to which the wire is attached by mechanically attaching the wire or its insulation to the connector body. In some wire and connector combinations of the prior art the exterior insulation on the wire and the body of the connector are fused together to mechanically join the wire and connector body and thereby provide stress and strain relief at the junction of the wire conductors with the connector terminals. Since this method of attachment is a permanent one, the connectors on such wires cannot be disconnected from the wire and reused. Electrical failure within such connectors must be corrected by replacement of the entire wire and connector assembly or substitution of a different type of connector. Connectors adapted for permanent attachment can also not be sold separately from the wires with which they are used for attachment by a user. Hence, from a commercial point of view they have limited market potential.
There is known in the art another type of connector which can be manually connected to and removed from a wire for reuse and which provides mechanical stress and strain relief between the conductors of the wire and the electrical terminals supported in the connector. Such connectors generally have a hollow cylindrical neck formed from a compressible material. The wire is received in the connector through a bore in the hollow neck and the neck is then compressed about the wire to form a frictional coupling between the wire and connector by means of a yoke which is circumscribingly mounted on the periphery of the neck of the connector and tightened to compress the neck against the wire to form the frictional coupling. To perform its intended function, the yoke used must be made of a hard rigid material which is usually a metal such as aluminum or steel. When the yoke is tightened it literally crushes the cylindrical neck on the connector and can damage it. Since the neck of the connector also serves as a means for grasping the connector, the yoke can interfere with the comfortable grasping of the connector. Moreover, since the yoke is often metallic and, therefore conductive, it presents a potential danger should the neck of the connector fracture and a live conductor in the wire come into contact with the yoke while it is being grasped by the user. The use of such yokes is also unsightly and presents a crude appearance in contrast to the neat finish of integrally molded connector and wire assemblies.